A/Prof Dan Buchanan, recently announced Director of the Centre of Research Excellence (CRE) ARTEMIS, discusses the upcoming five-year research program that will investigate the aetiology, risk factors, tumourigenesis, exposures, microbiome and immune susceptibilities that are underlying early-onset bowel cancer.

Funded by Bowel Cancer Australia, A/Prof Buchanan will lead the $3M Centre’s 22-member team across multiple disciplines looking to molecularly ‘tease apart’ these cancers to pinpoint the role of the gut microbiome in cancer development and develop more targeted approaches to assessing people’s risk that will guide a personalised prevention, screening and care pathway.

The Centre was named after the Greek goddess of the hunt, Artemis, reflecting the team’s determination to track down what is causing early-onset bowel cancer and the alarming rise of the disease in young Australians.